Cheryce Berg, director of children's ministries

I have the best job: to peek in our many children’s classrooms and hear God and his Word being proclaimed, worshiped and celebrated!

The Lord has entrusted us with approximately 450 children participating in programs run by 215 Kids’ Harbor volunteers this past year. Wow! I am joined in shepherding them by an incredible staff consisting of Angie Schroeder, Jenn Miller, Karin Tuurie, Liz Stahler, Sarah Herr and Sarah Tews, as well as the valuable superintendents who give their updates below.

If you make your way downstairs, you’ll immediately notice a newer, brighter welcome center (called the Harbor Hub), fresh floors and paint, a Bible timeline, and our favorite: a salt-water aquarium with fish named by kids! You may see our three new missions maps on the walls, missionary baseball cards, or a table of outreach ideas. Ask a child about Family Open Gym times or Crew.

However, thankfully it isn’t about us or what we can do; what is most important is God at work to share the good news of salvation through Christ with kids and their families. He has provided all these things and they are for the purpose of bringing kids to a saving knowledge and love of Jesus. “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:5-6) All praise to him!

Adventure Days. Hear from a volunteer about Lunch and Learn trainings, relationships built with fellow teachers, or the variety of resources available to them. Talk to a parent about our fall parenting seminar called “Show Them Jesus” or the books we’ve distributed to help with their primary role in discipleship.

ASHLEY GOSSELIN, nursery superintendent:

Praise God for the faithful service of those that are willing to volunteer to spend their Sunday mornings and evenings with the sweet babies and toddlers in our congregation! We have been encouraged to see the class sizes grow over the past year as families return after a difficult couple of years. On a Sunday morning you can look through the windows into one of our rooms and see the men and women serving sitting on the floor reading to a group of children sitting around them, playing pretend in the kitchen or singing songs to the Lord. We are thankful for the sacrifice of these men and women that enables parents to attend a service knowing their children are safe and also hearing about Jesus.

SARAH MIKOLAJCZYK, preschool Bible school superintendent:

Do you remember playing, giggling and having fun in Sunday Bible school? Our kids have fun when they worship! They sing loud, they sing soft. They sit, jump and stand. They use their hands to express the words of songs! Through our end-of-unit “Lighthouse” Sundays we gather together in Welsh hall to review the lessons, learn about missionaries and sing together memorized Scripture passages. These little children who are just learning to color, cut, and paste, already understand that the Bible is God’s Word to us and that they can share with others the good news! Do you remember the Bible stories about Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and Joshua? This year, our preschool team has been faithfully bringing those stories and many more each week to this new generation of children. We are planting seeds of understanding in these little ones for how God deserves our worship, and how God gave, provided, healed, and encouraged his people. This is so that they might know with certainty who God is, understand their need for Jesus and come to an eternal hope in him. Our numbers have continued to increase and we will be opening another preschool class this spring. Praise God for his faithfulness!

DAN BURDEN, elementary Bible school superintendent:

Praise God for the increased number of children in Kids’ Harbor this year. As we emerged from the pandemic wave, attendance climbed to near prepandemic levels (~130 kids, 1st-5th grade). It is such a joy to worship and learn together in person. We also experimented with a new format. Approximately once a month, all grade levels (1st-5th) met together in one large group for worship and teaching. We called it a Lighthouse Gathering! These mornings provided a break from the normal grade-specific activities and created space for larger corporate worship and Christcentered lessons delivered by a variety of Kids’ Harbor teaching leaders.

KRISTIE SMALLEY, preschool children’s church superintendent:

Many of you, our church family, serve in children’s ministries, and we are so thankful for you! Your service enables us to teach and minister to the children that God has placed here at our church, as well as minister to our families and those who might come as guests. Our year started with one class and due to increased number of children we added a class and divided the preschool classes into younger (2 & 3 yearolds) and older preschool (4 & 5 year-olds). We will continue over the coming year to evaluate our 11 a.m. children’s ministries in order to best teach effectively and give God all the glory. Our average number of children for the 11 a.m. preschool group is around 24. We treasure the time we spend with our children and seek your prayers that even at this tender age the Word of God will pierce their hearts. “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” (Psalm 31:24, KJV)

SUZANNE SHIRLEY, Kids Korner superintendent:

With goldfish, graham crackers and God’s faithfulness, Kids Korner returned to its regular schedule and attendance this year. We were grateful to have Wheaton College students return to serve along with our regular teachers, which enabled us to open six total nursery and preschool classes, ending the year at 92 children registered with 60+ attending each week. As their moms studied the Storyline of the Bible and the Beatitudes in Matthew, our preschool classes visited the stories in the Old and New Testaments showing God’s faithfulness in redeeming his people. It has been a joy to see children once again filling up the hallways and classrooms, singing, playing, crafting, growing and learning about Jesus together.

TERRY VANSOMEREN, midweek evening boys superintendent:

Boys Brigade is continuing on this year providing a fun and high-energy mid-week evening at College Church. Attendance is somewhere between 50 and 60 on any given Wednesday. The boys in Boys Brigade have small group time, Scripture memorization, game time (with the ever-popular dodgeball) and an all-group story that ends the night on a reflective spiritual note. This fall we studied the Ten Commandments. This winter session, as we worked on cars the boys memorized verses from Proverbs. The “Shape and Race” event is an annual multi-week event that begins after Christmas and continues up to spring break. Boys learn basic skills as they design, sand, prime and paint their cars. We recognize boys in each grade with trophies for speed and style. Some of the Brigade leaders are fathers of kids in the program. But we also had some dads who have stayed with the program after their sons have moved on. Not all boys in Boys Brigade and Tree Climbers attend other College Church programs. The casual mid-week setting is a great way for boys to invite school or neighborhood friends who would not likely come to Sunday morning Bible school. We want to be sure that each boy in the program builds relationships with Christian boys and men and learns Scripture and stories that show God’s love for them and the need for all of us to trust Jesus.

JUDY FORD, midweek evening girls superintendent:

Today I was handed a beautiful card signed by our Pioneer Girls letting me know they were thinking and praying for me and my husband. You see, my husband had a heart attack, and I haven’t been able to be there for the girls and leaders. This is who they are, and it was exactly what I needed! What a blessing! These young girls are truly putting feet to their faith. Learning Bible verses, hearing Bible stories, working on fun projects are exciting, and the girls look forward to our evenings together. But here, in a real-life situation, they responded how they knew Jesus would have wanted them… with a kind and thoughtful gesture. May we all be lights in this world. I love our Pioneer Girls.

SARAH HERR, God’s Children Sing superintendent:

After a year and a half hiatus, we were elated to re-start our God’s Children Sing preschool and kindergarten classes this school year on Sunday nights during the evening service. Twenty children and six volunteers met each week, to sing, move to music, play instruments and singing games, all while learning Bible stories and worshipping God. Some highlights included playing gongs, drums, chimes and rain sticks to simulate Noah’s 40-day rainstorm and a singing game in which the children had to listen for their name to be called, as did Samuel when he was a boy listening to God’s voice. It was a blessing to make a joyful noise together each week.

Claire Johnston, Brianna Newhouse, Hope Aviles, and Bethany Taylor, Summer Crew ’21:

Our Pirate Crew told the message of Jesus Christ to multiple groups of elementary kids while having a boatload of fun last summer. Whether it was through Crew Club or Crew Adventures, kids participated in games, songs, crafts, Bible stories, prayer, and real-life application conversations to learn more about the gospel. Crew also ran a class called “I’m a Christian Now” to help upper elementary kids learn about and discuss their faith. When they weren’t preparing lessons and activities, the Crew team spent time studying the Bible using the Charles Simeon Trust lessons and studying a book called Show Them Jesus by Jack Klumpenhower to better prepare them for ministry and strengthen their walk with Jesus.